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Well, we've certainly witnessed history, in one way or another... I tend to believe that the ideas that were brought up in this chapter weren't necessarily bad, but were very "out of context" and not well laid down, so the chapter felt like a bunch of nonsensical bullet points.
It kicked off well with a rather interesting talk between Eren and Armin, reflecting on the events of ch 112, but the moment they stood up and went for a walk, things started to crumble. Eren not answering here was already pretty suspicious, but the worse was yet to come.
The idea of these "shackles of love" isn't inherently bad and could have been further worked on, but it felt pretty cheap, being just thrown down into the story like this. On that note, the parallel between Ymir and Mikasa was nice, but how did Mikasa's experience help Ymir tho?
And it's not like Mikasa still has pretty much the same feelings for Eren like "before the cut" and is probably bound for life to Shiganshina and that tree by those very feelings.
It was from this moment on when things became seriously iffy. This panel is probably the best portrayal of Isayama's mind at this stage of writing the chapter.
Now, yet another moment where I felt like, if this was expanded upon, it could be great. Imagine this scene in the style of ch 121, it would be monumental. This way, we've basically lost the understanding of how paths work (if we ever had any to begin with) and the once complex->
and profound story now feels like either wrongly closed up or that lucky circumstances led us to believe that it was all planned and well thought up (which I really refuse to believe, but can't say that the thought hasn't crossed my mind).
Now, even though things got messed up until this point, I've felt kinda at ease with this scene. Yeah, the first thought was "Ohh, this is kinda crappy, Eren's feelings were "never" hinted to be that way", but the more I read this, it felt more and more organic, reviving the->
"Eren of old" persona, all whinny, confused, but very caring! And yeah, the following speech about not wanting to die and stuff, while the very next moment realizing he has no other option but to die and that it is the only real thing "to do", I really felt the sadness there
BUT (a lot of buts in this thread, BUT it's just the conflicting nature of this chapter), then comes this page and turns everything that was making Eren, our precious, freedom-driven boy, on its head... One of the translations I've read had Eren saying "I wanted to", and ->
"I had to" in the same shot, which strips him of all his freedom that he so dearly speaks of. Now, idk if it was intentional and had a message within or not, but it fell so short and really struck me, to the point of questioning so many immaculate moments from before...
This was so emotional, but at this point, I don't think it hit me as much as it should, because of the so many conflicting thoughts pilled up at that point.
Yet another beautiful moment, but as in the earlier shot, I've been robbed of my emotions at this stage :(
This is where I was like "Of course...". Nothing against them surviving the war, but why turning them into titans in the first place then??? Especially after that Jean-Connie moment, this felt really dirty...
But this moment... One of the two moments that got me in tears... Shinzo wo Sasageyo!
Now, the moment guns were aimed at the Eldians, I wouldn't really commentate on that, I feel like it wasn't a bad thing necessarily, considering the "cycle of hatred still continues" thing that is propagated through the final stretch of the chapter.
BUT, "baby plot point" completely missing from the chapter felt massively disappointing... Like, it would be even okay to conclude Historia's arc as a pregnant mom on the farm and not touch on that ever again, but the fact that her birth process pain and struggles were flashed->
out in the middle of the rumbling, this was a major disappointment...
Nevertheless, I was quite satisfied, sad and emotional with the last couple of pages, with Mikasa "and Eren", resting under the tree where this indescribably beautiful and tragic adventure started.
Even though this single chapter had its fair share of issues, I would feel selfish and unfair to turn my back on the story that means so much to me. It made me feel just every emotion there is and I'm deeply grateful to Isayama Sensei for sharing his genius with the world for so
many years. Hopefully, I'll revisit this series in the distant future and still be able to feel its magic in the same way I once did. I don't usually talk about things I wholeheartedly love, because feelings overwhelm me and I lose the ability to properly express myself, so ->
I'll be short to close this off. I love Attack on Titan! #ThankYouIsayama
